Identification of Microbial Biodiversity and Community Structure in the Baltimore Harbor

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States with more than 150 rivers within its watershed, spanning across six densely populated states. Anthropogenic activity has affected the ecology of the Bay. For over a century, the Baltimore Harbor has been a major port of industry and commerce. On a macroscopic scale, it is apparent that the biodiversity has decreased over time; however, microbial communities have not been thoroughly studied in the Harbor. Studying microbial biodiversity is important when trying to understand the ecosystem as a whole, as they play important roles, contributing to nutrient cycling, population dynamics, and other processes. This research utilizes a combination of culture-independent methods to examine microbial biodiversity in the Harbor. Light microscopy is being used to observe the abundance and biodiversity of zooplankton and large phytoplankton. Epifluorescence microscopy is being used to observe the abundance of bacteria and viruses. Finally, DNA techniques are being used to examine microbial eukaryotic, prokaryotic, and viral communities. Residents and industrial operations occupying these areas influence the overall health of the Bay, and communication with these groups is necessary. Understanding the biodiversity of the microbial communities can increase our knowledge of the species that can degrade harmful pollutants, affect the seafood population, drive evolutionary processes, and cause disease in humans and animals.

Several artisanal fisheries across the Caribbean have historically targeted recurrent massive fish spawning aggregations (FSA) of valuable snappers and groupers, sometimes to the point of collapse. Artisanal fishers have harvested mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis) from the Gladden Spit FSA site in Belize since the 1950s, with catches contributing considerably to national finfish yields. The Government of Belize partnered with stakeholders from Southern Belize to co-manage the area, declaring a multi-use marine reserve at Gladden Spit in 2000. We engaged with stakeholders to evaluate the status of the fishery and re-construct its historical development (1950-2011), including evaluation of all existing quantitative fishery data (1991-2011). Catch per unit effort (CPUE), individual size, and sex ratios have been relatively constant throughout the fisheries' history. Annual landings fluctuated over time in correlation with fishing effort, while CPUE remained relatively constant. The fishery has persisted for over 60 years, with yields highly dependent on external socio-economic factors. The life-history strategies of mutton snapper are distinct from most vulnerable groupers and may confer the species more resistance to stressors, including fishing. Based on its ecology, we suggest that the mutton snapper fishery at Gladden Spit can persist so long as the local fishing dynamics and stakeholder-centered conservation and management continue.

Human mediated relocation of vulnerable species poses the potential risk of susceptibility and transmission of disease. However, our understanding of the epidemiology of bacterial transmission within populations is limited. Since human colonization and subsequent introduction of invasive animals, New Zealand has had a high rate of species extinctions with many native fauna still vulnerable. As a consequence, intensive management and translocations have become increasingly common practice. We collated records of translocations of an endangered endemic flightless rail, the takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) and applied social network principles to describe connectivity of the movement network. Our analysis has identified locations acting as potential hubs, sinks and sources for bacterial dissemination and evolution within takahē. These locations are ideal priority targets for disease surveillance, with individuals tested from the sites likely to be representative of the population. We then collected fecal matter from over a third of the takahē population encompassing individuals from key locations and are testing each sample for the presence of common pathogens and commensals, with the intention of determining biogeographical patterns of prevalence. Translocation networks have the potential to provide epidemiological guidance to aid conservation decisions when considering a translocation and increase our knowledge of how potential pathogens could spread within a population.

With greater recognition of the biodiversity, food and water security and climate crises; green economic development becoming a central development policy; and rapidly increasing markets for sustainable products; there is growing demand for integrated assessment and planning methods that underpin decision-making that considers biodiversity and ecosystem services. Delivering this, requires coordinated inputs from disciplines ranging from natural sciences (e.g., ecosystem delineation, environmental flows, species modeling), economics (e.g., tradeoffs, distribution of benefits and costs, market failure), business (e.g., reputational/operational risks, public-private partnerships, emerging green markets) and geography (e.g. participatory spatial planning, systematic conservation planning). There is also increasing pressure to get this information to decision-makers faster and cheaper than ever before. Systematically designing integrated assessments and plans that incorporate the values of ecosystems into land/sea resource use plans, supply chains, development plans and into business models are a huge opportunity for conservation. Here we discuss several approaches we are developing and trialing at Conservation International.

One of the major limiting factors in the global amphibian crisis is a lack of capacity in terms of full-time staff and facilities dedicated to mitigating threats to amphibians. I will review basic methods in organizational capacity-building for conservation and explain how we are expanding facilities, infrastructure, and staff on the ground in Panama as part of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. Our country-level strategic plan establishes ex-situ assurance colonies of up to 20 amphibian species threatened with extinction from chytridiomycosis and researches potential disease-management tools that will ultimately position us to re-establish populations of these species in the wild. This presentation provides a detailed glimpse behind the scenes of a single ex-situ conservation project working under the umbrella of the global Amphibian Ark program and the Amphibian Survival Alliance. These basic species management actions cannot be implemented without substantial organizational capacity-building and strong connections between disciplines, stakeholders and systems.

Resistance is the cost of dispersal across natural and anthropogenic features and underlies all connectivity planning efforts. However, no formal methods exist for estimating the influence of landscape attributes on dispersal distances, although dispersal can affect population viability through its influences on gene flow and metapopulation dynamics. We develop an approach to model dispersal distance that allows for formal statistical inference about resistance as well as the influence of individual traits such as sex. The model requires only origin and settlement locations, such as might be obtained from mark -recapture studies or parentage analyses, and maps of the relevant habitat features. A simulation study, using 3 kinds of environmental variables (categorical, patchy, and trend) indicates that maximum likelihood estimators of resistance and individual trait parameters are approximately unbiased with moderate sample sizes. We apply our method to a family tree of grizzly bears in northwestern Montana and discuss considerations for the use of this method for natural populations. Our approach is the first to provide unbiased estimates of landscape resistance to dispersal. It can be used to test hypotheses about dispersal ecology and can inform connectivity planning efforts.

Payments for watershed services (PWS) schemes have received considerable attention for their potential to deliver hydrological services in addition to biodiversity conservation objectives. With that success has followed additional hypotheses about co-benefits such as 'climate compatible development' (CCD), a construct designed to locate synergies between climate change mitigation, adaptation, and development. PWS has been widely popularized as a key nexus between diverse stakeholders and disciplines; however, there are many approaches to PWS that differ in structure and implementation. Locally-led reciprocal agreements seem more likely than national schemes to promote CCD. Epitomized by initiatives in Bolivia and Ecuador, these schemes (known locally as Arreglos Reciprocos por Agua, or ARAs) are locally-implemented and build on local social norms. In order to systematically evaluate contributions to climate compatible development, Rare and partners have developed a CCD index that captures the critical indicators of development, adaptation, and mitigation in the context of PWS. Initial results from an evaluation across a range of PWS types suggest that differing PWS project characteristics correspond to substantially different climate-compatible development outcomes, a key finding for stakeholders with varying objectives. We will present the CCD index methodology as a novel approach to co-benefits assessment and will discuss these initial findings from our evaluation.

Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/ P. miles) have rapidly established dense populations throughout the Western Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. This marine predator invasion is now among the most destructive in history, and resource managers across the region are now scrambling to devise strategies to suppress their populations. A strategy that is proving effective at increasing local awareness of the invasion is the creation of lionfish fishing derbies or tournaments, but whether derby events are an effective means to control local lionfish populations, and the area over which they may affect control, remain unknown. We evaluated the magnitude and scale of lionfish population suppression achieved during two lionfish derbies in 2012; the first in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas and the second in Key Largo, Florida, using a combination of pre- and post-derby in-water assessments of lionfish density, measurements of derby catch, and surveys of derby participant fishing effort and location. Derby participants affected a greater than 60% reduction in lionfish densities within the derby area, compared with pre-derby levels. Crucially, population suppression was isolated to the area in which the derby occurred. Our work indicates that these single day events can be an effective strategy for suppressing the invasion at a local scale. The results of this effort may be used to better inform resource managers and lionfish control programs throughout the region.

The U.S. Endangered Species Act is one of the strongest laws for protecting biodiversity of any nation. But the effectiveness of this landmark law is ultimately dependent on implementation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Services. We compiled data on species listing, critical habitat designation and recovery plan development to assess implementation of the Endangered Species Act. A total of 1511 U.S. species are currently listed as threatened or endangered. On average, 35 species per year have been listed over the past 40 years, but there has been considerable year to year variation with both litigation and presidential administration contributing to this variation. Species have routinely experienced delays of more than 10 years in receiving protection. Existing data suggests there are roughly an additional 2,100 species in the United States that may warrant protection. Of listed species, 659 (44 percent) have critical habitat. A greater proportion (80 percent) of species listed in the last ten years have had critical habitat designated concurrently with listing. A majority of listed species have recovery plans (85 percent), but 79 percent are more than ten years old and 26 percent are more than twenty years old. In the next 40 years, adequate funding and robust implementation of the Endangered Species Act will be necessary to meet the growing challenges to species survival from climate change and an increased human footprint.

The idea of the conservation corridor arose in the 1970's with the proposal that linked habitat fragments have greater conservation value than isolated fragments. This notion is entirely based on theoretical considerations from island biogeography. Widely embraced by the conservation community; today dozens of corridor initiatives are currently being implemented worldwide. For the past year-and-a-half, as part of an ongoing project to investigate corridor efficacy, we have had the opportunity to travel the world and meet with conservation practitioners implementing corridors. At the time of this abstract, we have visited 27 countries on six continents and met with > 40 organizations working to implement corridors to conserving biodiversity in light of ongoing human land use and climate change. From these travels, we have learned that the concept of what a corridor is has expanded greatly. Indeed, the word 'corridor' itself has different meanings to different people and organizations, or in other instances, a smorgasbord of terms are used to mean the same thing. However, in our travels we have noted four general uses of the corridor concept: 1) The traditional corridor model, 2) corridors as temporary dispersal habitat, 3) corridors as organizational entities for conservation, and 4) corridors as trans-boundary conservation cooperatives. In this talk, we discuss the value of corridor thinking in each context and offer some suggestions for common terminology.

Despite the increasing abundance of natural gas and oil pipeline right-of-way (RoW) clearings in tropical forests, little is known about the extent to which primates and other arboreal mammal populations are isolated by the resulting linear canopy fragmentation. In the Lower Urubamba Region of Peru, we are collaborating with Repsol Exploración Perú to study the effects of the construction of a natural gas pipeline on arboreal mammals and the effectiveness of natural canopy bridges (connections left between canopy branches which span the pipeline clearing) in reducing the pipeline's fragmentation effects. We are evaluating mammal use of the RoW and surrounding areas before, during, and after pipeline construction in areas with and without natural canopy bridges. Data from before to during construction indicate a reduction in primate encounter rates within one kilometer of the RoW. However, canopy camera traps in natural bridges have revealed over 60 individuals of 11 species of arboreal mammals, including three primate species, utilizing the bridges in the four months since they were exposed. Results will be used to shape recommendations for industry "best practice" protocols. This study highlights the value of partnerships between conservation organizations and development industries and demonstrates that while stakeholders in corporate partnerships may ultimately have different priorities, common ground can be found and conservation goals can indeed be met.

Genetic diversity in vertebrates is linked to various health parameters, survivorship, and reproductive success. Notably, genetically diverse individuals have low parasite loads, high survivorship, and produce many surviving offspring, whereas the opposite is true in individuals that lack genetic diversity. Low genetic diversity can also be detrimental at the population or species level, and is a major threat to conservation efforts. At the interface between genetic make-up and fitness, the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) controls the immune system's ability to recognize pathogens, playing an essential role in an individual's survival, as well as that of its offspring. Using as a model the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), a threatened primate species, we have characterized functional diversity at the MHC-DRB locus, using next-generation parallel tagged sequencing (NGS) of over 90 captive lemurs. Despite generations of captivity and documented inbreeding depression, we uncovered a high degree of genetic diversity, including over 20 unique alleles and 30 unique genotypes. These data, in comparison with measures of survival and health status derived from long-term, life history records for each individual, enable us to evaluate the fitness consequences of functional genetic diversity at the MHC. This project highlights the use of NGS as a rapid and cost effective tool to assess functional genetic diversity for conservation planning.

To be effective in conservation, students need to develop sophisticated understandings of conservation problems and problem-solving approaches, which derive from advanced critical thinking skills. Here, we present results of an experimental study aimed at fostering students' critical thinking skills and comprehension of complex conservation issues. Faculty from six institutions, led by investigators from the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at AMNH, designed a multi-year experiment that applied novel instructional and assessment materials under two different instruction modalities, individual reflection vs. intensive classroom discussion. We found that use of the instructional materials improved student performance in two independent assessments of critical thinking (N=42-78), while also showing gains in their content knowledge (N=26-46). In particular, students improved in their abilities to select and use evidence in constructing arguments, and in understanding the influence of context and assumptions on conclusions drawn from evidence. However, we did not find that student self-confidence in their critical thinking abilities increased (N=38-42). We are currently assessing whether the intensity of the teaching intervention influenced student gains in critical thinking. Our results show that critical thinking skills can be improved within a single course through strategic instructional techniques across a wide range of institutions and classroom settings.

Conservation programs for endangered species need to take a holistic approach and encompass a variety of disciplines. For large carnivores that utilize large home ranges often extending beyond protected areas, a multi-disciplinary approach with strong community engagement is critical. We have been working in the 16,000km2 landscape that comprises the Zimbabwean part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area for eight years, using the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) as a flagship species for landscape level conservation. We work in and around both private and state land and take a multi-faceted approach to conservation, combining management-driven research, hands-on conservation, policy dialogue with decision makers and education and outreach. We have 123 schools in the education program in five districts, involving over 16,000 students and 500 teachers. We also engage with 37 communities (defined by wards). Experience indicates that low literacy levels can be a stumbling block for school based programs and literacy programs may need to be run concurrently. Whilst policy issues are critical, preliminary insights indicate that education efforts and community involvement in projects give the most successful outcome on the ground. Proper evaluation of all education and outreach efforts is imperative.